Social Justice

Prosecutor : Autopsy of Sandra Bland is consistent with suicide, not homicide

A prosecutor says the autopsy of Sandra Bland concluded that her injuries were consistent with suicide, not homicide

Published

9 years ago

July 23, 2015

Unheard Voices Staff

Sandra Bland

The death of Sandra Bland while in police custody has her family outraged and people talking.

Table of Contents

Death

The 28-year-old was stopped in Texas during a routine traffic stop for allegedly making a turn without using her signal. After a confrontation with the officer, in which many say the officer instigated (watch the video), Bland found herself sitting in a jail cell on an assaulting an officer charge.

Autopsy of Sandra Bland

Family say they don’t believe Bland, who was full of life and anticipating working her new job, would have killed herself on something she vehemently planned on fighting. So what happened to Sandra Bland? Amidst all the anger, a prosecutor says the autopsy of Sandra Bland concluded that her injuries were consistent with suicide, not homicide, a finding that underscored growing doubts that the jail did enough to monitor her.

New York Times reports:

Ms. Bland had told two jail intake workers on July 10 that she had tried last year to kill herself after losing a baby and told at least one of them that she had experienced bouts of depression. Yet they did not place her on a suicide watch or summon a mental health expert to evaluate her, steps national experts say should be standard practice. Nor did they follow other mandatory procedures aimed at protecting inmates at risk, state inspectors said last week.

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Sandra Bland was in the process of moving to Texas after accepting a job at her alma mater Prairie View A&M University when she was stopped for allegedly failing to signal when switching lanes. She was arrested on July 10th and was found hanging three days later on July 13th.

Her death, like those of a number of other African Americans who died after encounters with police officers, has sparked national outcry as well as deep suspicion among some critics, including her family, of the Texas authorities who are investigating it.

So what are the next steps? The family has conducted their own independent autopsy in which they should have the results soon.

Do you believe the autopsy results or you demand more answers?